Post and Courier

City of Columbia considers short-term rental restrictions

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Several news sources are reporting that the City of Columbia, South Carolina, is considering imposing restrictions on short-term rentals such as those promoted by the online site Airbnb.

WLTX News 19 quoted City Councilman Howard Duvall last week: “To me, a non-owner-occupied residence that’s being rented out for less than 30 days is a hotel, and it needs to be in a commercial area.” Duvall told WLTX that he believes short-term rentals have a bad impact on neighborhoods because renters often come in for a few days for an event and they party, with loud music, in the middle of a residential area.

In a story on July 4, the Post and Courier reported that about 600 rentals are offered in Columbia neighborhoods, and some neighborhood representatives have complained of disruptions.

This report includes a statement that Duvall along with Councilmen Sam Davis and Will Brennan have drafted an ordinance for the Council to consider on July 20. Multiple opportunities for public input are planned.

Both stories report resistance to the idea. WLTX quoted the owner of a real estate business who said short-term rentals have become a part of life and a part of travel because millions of people like it and expect it when they come to a city.

The Post and Courier quoted Columbia Chamber of Commerce CEO Carl Blackstone who said some regulations of short-term rentals could be welcome, but an outright ban is a nonstarter in a time when we are trying to open back up from a pandemic. Blackstone said we need to be opening our arms and welcoming visitors anyway we can.

Other cities have imposed restrictions on short-term rentals. Duvall mentioned Asheville, Raleigh, Myrtle Beach, Greenville, Charleston, Beaufort and Summerville in his discussions with the Post and Courier.

In Charleston, he said, short-term rentals can only be operated as a part of the owner’s primary residence, with a maximum of four guests. Myrtle Beach doesn’t allow short-term rentals in some residential areas. Some cities have restricted special events and large gatherings.

What do you think? Should short-term residential rentals be routine in our neighborhoods or should we impose restrictions?

Huge Nexton project takes top Home Builders award

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Picture courtesy of Charleston Post and Courier

The Charleston Post and Courier is reporting that the 5,000-acre residential spread between Interstate 26 and U.S. Highway 176 in Berkeley County near Summerville received the Pinnacle Award from the Home Builder Association of South Carolina.

The size of this project, which supports the Boeing plant and related businesses, is staggering. The Post and Courier reports that it will one day have as many residents as Georgetown and Moncks Corner combined. It will also house as many residents as the current populations of Clemson, West Columbia or North Myrtle Beach (between 16,000 and 20,000).  Currently, according to the newspaper, the number of residences is 1,200. At full build-out, the project will encompass 7,000 homes.

The award is for the best master-planned community in the state. It recognizes homebuilders who have achieved the highest standards in customer satisfaction, quality craftsmanship and innovative problem solving.

Just take the trip from Columbia to Charleston to see this huge project. The future of the housing industry in our state is bright!

Heirs’ property symposium set for Wednesday

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South Carolina dirt lawyers: please take a look at this article from Charleston’s Post and Courier dated November 14. The article provides a free registration link for a symposium, entitled “All Land is not Created Equal; Unleashing Family and Community Wealth through Land Ownership.”

The symposium will take place this Wednesday 1-7 p.m. and is offered by the Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation and the Aspen Institute Community Strategies Group.

The article indicates the Center has helped families clear more than 200 titles and provides services in Allendale, Bamberg, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Marion, Orangeburg, Sumter and Williamsburg Counties.

If you or your clients have an interest in heirs’ property, this may be an excellent seminar for you.

How does the rest of 2020 look in South Carolina housing?

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We have had an incredible year in real estate in South Carolina!

Mortgage rates are at historic lows resulting in a refinance boom. Home sales have also been strong. We have seen a steady stream of migrations to our beautiful state from less desirable locations. We have seen folks tire of being stuck inside their homes by COVID looking for larger and more modern residences. And the low interest rates have assisted in those moves, too.

And commercial real estate has remained strong for us. We’ve seen the due diligence periods of some commercial projects slowed by COVID uncertainty, but these transactions appear to be closing, even if later than expected.

Real estate closing attorneys and their staff members have worked at a frenzied pace this year! They have tried to keep up with the whirlwind of activity while sanitizing between closings, performing closings on porches, in tents and in parking lots. They’ve worn masks and given away the used pens. It has taken a great deal of innovation to run a closing law firm in this environment, and they have succeeded!

It’s almost October, and we haven’t yet seen a slowdown. I point you to this article, however, written by Warren L. Wise for Charleston’s Post and Courier newspaper. The article points to a slip in the numbers of real estate sales in August as compared to August of 2019. Sales seem to have been slowed by inventory. We are still experiencing a desire for new and improved housing, but the houses aren’t available. It’s a true seller’s market.

I doubt these numbers will result in a huge slow-down between now and the end of the year. Perhaps we will see something akin to the seasonal slowdowns we have historically seen toward year-end. And if things go well, spring will give us the typical increase we are accustomed to in housing sales. Hang on for the ride!

Interested in buying a pristine SC island near Charleston?

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The price is $15 million; and the buyer may not be able to develop it

The Charleston Post and Courier reported on March 9 that Long Island, a large, private island between James Island and Folly Beach off the coast of South Carolina is for sale. You can read the article here and the listing here.

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Long Island, SC. (Photo credit: The Post and Courier)

According to the article, the current owners would like to find a buyer who would put the land under a conservation easement.  This easement would purportedly fit well with Folly Beach’s recent efforts to stem development in vulnerable areas.

The listing indicates the size of the island is about 4,600 acres, including approximately 147 acres of high land, and touts views of Morris Island Lighthouse and the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge.

Called a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for outdoor enthusiasts to own a unique slice of coastal paradise, the purchase would include an archaeological site eligible for The National Register of Historic Places featuring Civil War artifacts. On the west end of the island is Star Battery, an earthen fort used by Union Forces during the Civil War. The remains of a causeway that leads to nearby Oak Island and dates back to the Civil War, is said to be dry during low tide.

The listing states that the high land is potentially developable and would be an outdoor paradise for fly fishing, wildlife viewing, kayaking and paddle-boarding.

A 2014 article in Forbes states that the island contains an interior roadway providing access to all parts of the island including the archeological site, but it can only be reached by boat. This article indicates the price was $29 million in 2014. The Post and Courier article says the island is almost entirely undisturbed, with no electricity, water service or roads.

The Post and Courier article states that there was an attempt by a builder to develop this island in 1999 into more than 200 home sites. But the proposal would have required a new bridge, the plan for which was rejected.

A challenge now would be to convince a conservation organization to participate, considering the high price tag. The current owners would like to recoup as much of their investment as they can, while protecting the island, if possible, according to the article. It sounds like quite a challenge!

Charleston is exploding!

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The locals are expecting a quarter-million neighbors!

Last weekend, about sixty commercial dirt lawyers attended South Carolina Bar’s Dave Whitener Real Estate Intensive Workshop in Kiawah Island. This workshop is held every-other-year and honors the memory of the late, great real estate lawyer and law school professor who planned and moderated it for many years until his untimely death in 2014. I think Dave would have enjoyed the collaboration and education we all enjoyed last weekend*.

And I think he would have been shocked at changes in the Charleston area!

Charleston Ravenel Bridge

Charleston is exploding! Kiawah Island itself is in the throes of a major renovation anticipating its next PGA tournament in 2021. As we left Kiawah Island early Sunday morning, a time we could survey our surroundings with no traffic, we were amazed at the new subdivisions that have sprung up between the beautiful island and I-26 as well as those in the North Charleston area where the Boeing plant is located. The area is changing so fast it’s hard to recognize even for someone who does business in the area and visits it often.

I was not surprised to see this Charleston Post and Courier article entitled “105,000 homes await construction in the Charleston metro area” by David Slade dated July 18. The article begins with the premise that Charleston-area residents are about to welcome 250,000 neighbors—roughly equal to the population growth Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester Counties have experienced since 1990. Wrap your brain around that thought! The anticipated housing, according to this report, is nearly enough to accommodate the combined populations of Charleston and neighboring Mount Pleasant, which are the largest and fourth-largest cities in South Carolina.

Traffic is already horrible in the area. We hear from many lawyer friends and their staff members who fight increasing traffic to get into work each morning. When the I-526 bridge over the Wando River was closed recently for emergency repairs, we heard that some lawyers found it easier to take boats to work rather than to deal with the detour around the bridge. The emergency repairs required for this bridge are an example of the challenged infrastructure in the area.

But, as this article points out, area governments will see added tax revenues from the new growth, which will be needed for the roads and other infrastructure. Mr. Slade points out that residents of John Island, Kiawah Island, Seabrook Island and Wadmalaw Island have been waiting for many years for planned improvements to the Maybank Highway and River Road intersection which bottlenecks each day. The islands are beautiful places to live, but getting into Charleston to work can be problematic at best.

Charleston is the number 1 tourist destination in the United States and the number 2 tourist destination in the world. All of us in the real estate business will be looking with interest as this anticipated growth unfolds in the Holy City and its surrounding areas.

 

*Among the speakers this year was Dave’s widow, also a commercial real estate lawyer extraordinaire, Patricia Wharton Whitener, and two of Dave’s best friends, litigator Robert E. Stepp and USC Law Professor S. Alan Medlin. The line-up was excellent, and I encourage other lawyers who practice in the area of commercial real estate to attend this workshop at each offering!